The Church of San Pietro

The Church of San Pietro is situated beside the winding Via Sferricavalli that leads down from Atina to Ponte Melfa on the floor of the Val di Comino.

The Roman Temple

This is the oldest church in Atina. It was built on the ruins of a Roman temple (70AD) dedicated to the God Jupiter. Nearby there are the remains of a tract of Roman Road.

The Roman Building Technique Opus Reticulatum

At the base of the building there are sections of Roman walls in opus reticulatum. This was a Roman building technique for creating walls with a decorative facing. Small diamond shaped blocks of Tufa rock were laid in a criss-cross pattern on an inner wall of concrete. Sections of these walls may have belonged to the original Roman temple of Jupiter. Below you can see it has a simple early Christian cross made from circular terracotta bricks.